20-24 septembrie 2009 - Biblioteca Metropolitana Bucuresti

Timokenian and Danubian Romanians. Ethnological perspective 901are to be nationalized. If you ask Romanians what name they have, theywill answer you with a Bulgarian name, and in translation, the Romanianname. Example: “Gheorghe Florea Bodea. My father Ţvetan is called, butthe family is Romanian, of Bodea’s kin we are, Bodeas from Nedeia, ofGorcea, combination. And in Bulgarian I am Gheorghi Ţvetanov Gorcea” 6 .Some cases are quite funny. We give some examples found ontombstones in the Kozloduy cemetery. When they changed their names,they translated their nickname or they did not found a correspondent inBulgarian.Example: “Marin Bărnev (БЪРНEB). The name is Marin of Buzatu’s.Go and ask about Bărnev, nobody can tell you. When you say of Buzatu’s kin,they are prompt, because it is known, the family is large.” Ioan Enachieva(ЕНАКИЕВА), of Enache’s, their family belongs to the Ţăreanu’s family,coming from Romania. Here, so it sounds, when you hear “man from thecountry”, it means a person who came from the country, Vlachia, Romania.In order for the Romanian name not to be heard, they went back until Enache,ancestor or great ancestor or something, and they wrote his name, in ordernot to have troubles with the officials”. “Purcărova (ПУРКЪРОВА) meansfrom Purcărea’s family, but with the Bulgarian term. In another place theywrite Svinarovi, because pig is svinea”. 7The situation of identity in Bulgaria among people of Romanian originor, as we prefer, among Romanian speakers who have Romanian as mothertongue, is extremely varied, and it is somehow common throughout theNorthern Bulgarian area. A first observation is required: the Romaniansfrom Bulgaria make a confusion between citizenship and nationality. Theirargument is, as they live in Bulgaria, they are Bulgarians. Because theyspeak Romanian, they are Romanians. So, for the question: “What areyou?” Their answer is “half Romanian, half Bulgarian.” And this is not amatter of ethnically mixed families, but the confusion between nationalityand citizenship. There are cases, very few, of people who say they areRumanians, but also cases, mostly in Timok area, where their answer is thatthey are Vlachs who speak Romanian, here also, with various motivations,like having no Romanian education, they speak poor Romanian language.Example: „Noi toţi vorbim rumâneşte. Şi maica şi tatco şi tot, tot. Eusunt Cazacovi, Cazaşca familia, Cazacovi. Samo [doar] bulgari sunt, nusunt români. Aşa isti schi rumâniţ. [Vorbeşte româneşte dar zice că estebulgar!] Da, da. Hârleţu tot este aşa. Samo noi cu Hârleţu şi cu Ţâbul6July 2009, Kozlodui, Bulgaria, field information.7July 2009, information from Nicolai Pacev, Kozlodui cemetery.